Defending Our Oceans

Our appetite for fish is threatening to overwhelm the ocean’s ecology, while the slaughter of whales and industrial fishing methods are destroying endangered species.

The oceans are the source of all life on earth, and every day, they continue to nurture us. They provide half the oxygen we breathe. They regulate our climate and our rainfall. They give us a bounty of seafood; they revitalize us with their beauty and their splendor.

In return, many people treat the ocean as both landfill and bottomless provider. Its creatures are harvested to the point of extinction, and pollution, trash and oil spills are thoughtlessly dumped back.

Over 80% of the earth’s creatures live in the oceans, and we too depend on the oceans for a healthy planet. We need to protect our oceans because without them life on Earth would not – and cannot – exist.

The latest updates

Beijing, 31 July 2017 - 4 million tons of China’s total annual domestic fisheries catch is comprised of so-called “trash” fish - fish too young or too small to be consumed by humans - a Greenpeace East Asia investigation has found. This accounts...

I am currently sailing with Greenpeace’s beautiful Esperanza on a ship tour called “ Hope in West Africa ” to protect the invaluable fishery resources of that region. As part of our investigation and research work in Mauritanian waters...

Hong Kong, October 12 2016 - A crowdsourcing investigation by Greenpeace East Asia in Hong Kong, has found five leading cosmetics retailers selling products with microplastics, which has increasingly been proven to be damaging to the environment...

Back in July, Greenpeace East Asia exposed how the microplastics found in some of our favourite makeup and personal care products are polluting our oceans. Every day in Hong Kong, 4.8 billion microplastics find their way...

Fishing vessels moored in the port of Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, 31 July 2014
Simply put, China’s distant water fishing (DWF) industry, boats operating in other countries' waters or on the high seas, is enormous. With the latest...